I know, I know. I said I was gonna go over some political philosophy. Real life, and the misplaced boxes of all my philosophy books in storage are making that difficult.

One thing I can do is ask questions I think about all the time, and many folks throughout the centuries have also asked. The first question seems to be rather fundamental, but a question I almost never hear discussed by liberals: why do people (and animals for that matter) tend to gravitate to organized society?

A while back I commented on how Pepsi's logos were plastered all over the downtown Seattle transit stations. (I know, evil Limbaugh-like me using public transportation!) I'm sure you all remember the ads I'm talking about, the ones that looked like Obama campaign ads.

Well, those ads are gone now. They have been replaced by ads for Chase bank, which recently bought out Washington Mutual. Is it just me or does that seem a rather fitting substitution?

I've made a lot of adversarial comments aimed at Democrats and "progressives" (or Pibbers as I like to call them) but have yet to post about explicit positive steps Liberals need to take. Part of the reason is RL taking time away from my oh so important blogging that no one will bother to read anyway.

In truth, the biggest reason is that I'm not entirely sure of the best approach. If you've followed my comments in the last few days, you'll know that a thesis of mine is that the left has failed to develop a coherent, well reasoned political philosophy, that it has substituted electoral politics ("winning" elections) in place of a set of liberal principles. I'd like to start a number of series here at Corrente to began countering this and to reclaim liberalism for the 21st century.

Krugman makes a comment that is pretty much what I've been saying for sometime here: the GOP doesn't like Dem presidents. Sure the rhetoric is heated and confrontational, but my political consciousness was shaped by the vitriol aimed at Bill and Hill in the 90s. And, ya know, we had that whole Oklahoma City thing way back in the mid 1990s.

The sad thing about the craziness is that the really crazy folks are so crazy that they kinda mask the shifting craziness of the Dems.

Is trying to hold people accountable nothing more than "spreading the blame"? Shouldn't those who, you know, have earned balme recently be blamed and held accountable.

Its implied that I don't accept Obama as president. But isn't the focus on the GOP when they are a dwindling bunch much more like not accepting that we have a Dem pres and Congress? As far as I'm concerned given the mandate from 2006 and 2008 (what was it, 15 Senate seats and scores of House seats?) the GOP is now irrelevant. Why are some fighting so damn hard to keep them relevant?

I *could* give a Rawlsian or Millian or Hobbesian or Kantian argument against the so-called "ownership society", but instead of vigorous logic and argumentation, I'll propose a very simple proposition that seems a strong enough refutation: No child should have to "own" their poverty due to circumstances of their birth.

Am I wrong? If not, repeat after me: Fuck the Ownership Society. Its time to try something else! The ownership society fails a basic test of human decency every society has learned over several millenia.

Its that time again. What's on your book shelf and what are you reading?

Real life has kept me silent of late, but I've been enjoying the commentary. There has been some talk about Dems selling out and Obama's right-wing policies. This got me thinking about what it means to be a liberal. What is our philosophical rationale for the policies we wish to pursue? What are some of the books that all liberals should read? Any hard core philosophy books?

Has it been two weeks already? Appears so. What's on your previously read shelf?

Even though I already have a long list of your recommendations, I'm looking for more! Specifically, since I'm going to be commuting by public transportation M-F about 45 each way (depending on traffick), I'm looking for good cummute reading. Something that has short chapters or frequent narrative breaks, Kurt Vonnegut being a good example. I hate having to stop in the middle of a 20 page fight scene. What do you all recommend?

Tomorrow is Sunday, and after taking the last session off it's time to find out what we have all been reading.

If I had to choose a topic, I'd go with Eastern European sports thriller, but that may be a bit too focused. I'll just leave it open to whatever. I keep hinting at some trashy mind candy like Valley of the Dolls but haven't gotten any takers. I know there are some of you out there that read "those kinds of books". I know I'd read more myself if you all just mentioned them to me. I'll be waiting...

From the Times online (via CR), Spain's unemployment rate leaps to record high:

More than four million Spanish people are out of work. According to the country's National Statistics Institute a record high figure of 17.4 per cent were unemployed in the first quarter of the year.

Unemployment leapt from 13.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008, the biggest quarterly jump since 1976. Joblessness in Spain has almost doubled in a year.

 Read more…

As I see the massive effort to undermine the tea bag protests by attacking the participants, I'm reminded of this:

The agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Scranton said allegations that someone yelled “kill him” when presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s name was mentioned during Tuesday’s Sarah Palin rally are unfounded.

Here's the thing. I'm not moved at all by some of the conservative movement leaders trying to use this to their advantage. Yes, I do see hypocrisy for many of the participants. But, like Lambert, I'm pretty pissed off that we've thrown trillions at the banksters who engaged in fraud.

From the WaPo:

The Obama administration today is announcing guidelines for government-sponsored embryonic stem cell research but the draft regulations would limit federal funding of work on human embryos donated at fertility clinics.

The guidelines being issued by the National Institutes of Health open the door for a vast expansion of the research, but stop short of allowing scientists to create human embryos for research purposes or pursuing cloning techniques.

Administration officials took the more conservative approach largely for political reasons, rather than any particular scientific concern.

 Read more…

I'm used to Rush Limbaugh and Republicans despising the academics, but I don't generally see a reason for biotech companies having an aversion to academic researchers.

On Thursday of last week I noticed a job announcement on Craig's List for an "In-vitro Biology Research Associate II" that seems to have changed from then until today. I was actually surprised at the difference and struck by the emphasis of the new posting, that on "non-academic" and "non-hospital" experience. Here is the Craig's List posting and the Acucela announcement, that has the latest version:

Have them go out of business.

From Calculated Risk yesterday, we have this chart:

I leave it up to others to conclude whether that is good or bad.

We all want to know how Obama is doing on education, right? I came across an article at Edweek that discusses the pros and cons:

To be sure, his economic-stimulus package shows he is ready to pump far more money into education than Mr. Bush did. And Mr. Obama says he opposes private school vouchers, a consistent Bush agenda item.

Still, some observers see little difference between the two so far—and aren’t happy at the similarities.

“He is operating almost in a straight line from President Bush,” said Diane Ravitch, an education historian at New York University, who co-writes a blog for edweek.org. She has criticized core elements of Mr. Obama’s K-12 agenda, such as his enthusiasm for the charter sector and what she worries is an overreliance on standardized testing to judge schools and teachers.

“Obama is, in effect, giving George W. Bush a third term in education,” said Ms. Ravitch, who served as an assistant secretary of education under the first President Bush.

To be sure, there are plenty of things for everyone to like--as the article itself says, "The president carefully couched his rhetoric in ways that make it akin to a Rorschach test, with something for almost everyone. "--but what can we make of Obama's actual positions? I lean more toward the "we don't know squat about what will happen" camp because of Obama's ambiguity. The signs I see are not very promising. There are a few things from this article that I found important, regardless.

It's Sunday and time for another book review/recommendation post. I apologize to the east coaster who have to wait for this West Coaster to post. So it goes.

What are you reading right now? What do you want to read? What are some books that were recommended to you that you probably wouldn't have read otherwise?

As I'm viewing the details of the Big Shitpile unfold (here, here, here, and here, just on the front page of Corrente; make sure to follow some of the comment's links) I see the makings of heroic tale of strength, courage and hopeychanginess developing

It's been two Sundays which means its time to get ready for the Sunday Book Review at Corrente. The Book Reviews are a time for fellow Correntians to put aside our political differences and talk about books we like, love or hate. Every time I go to the library I like to browse some old review posts to get ideas for the next read. Or at least to put some books on my queue. I'm sure others do the same.

Tomorrow I'll post some excerpts from a non-fiction book since I've kinda been on a nonfiction kick lately. But that doesn't mean we wouldn't love to hear about some of the fiction you all are reading. Doesn't matter if its a trashy "why won't the cold go away" end of winter book or something you think is extraordinarily profound. Extra credit for anyone who provides quotes (but that is definitely not a requirement).

She picked a woman who was on the board of Planned Parenthood to be on the Supreme Court.

Its fun to watch the right wingers going over this amongst themselves (see link above for some tidbits or here). As so many are fond of pointing out here, Sarah Palin is evil and is only doing this because she was boxed in. Or she's playing 11-Dimensional chess. Either way, she wears odd shoes.

Has Grover Norquist succeeded?

The nation is at an economic tipping point. Its weakened and getting weaker. So much so that a supposedly liberal President feels the need to speak repeatedly of "entitlement reform" which, to anyone paying attention, means services to the bottom 80% on the income ladder.

A follow up: Can a well intentioned "fool" (in the ignorant use of the word) lead to as much calamity given dire circumstances as an ill intentioned Grover Norquist type?

Its Sunday again, so that means its time to talk about books. First some housekeeping. Unless some folks want to jump on board and host the book reviews, I plan to move to an every other week schedule. To give us some time to read books.

I've been sick with a nasty head cold. My head felt like an ever-expanding balloon. Not fun. What are your favorite books to read when you are recovering from an illness? Do you read something light--mind candy--or something deep an introspective in those conditions?

Tomorrow is Sunday which means its time for Sunday Book Reviews. What are you reading? What books are your all time favorites? Come tell us all about them. Or shoot us some of your own writings!

Also, please share any stories you may have about budget cuts to libraries. According to the Library Journal, PA has proposed to cut the state's library budget in half.

Via Krugman comes this sad tale of the state of California economics. It's bad, and some of us have been talking about how Schwarzenegger's charismatic way of selling shit to willing consumers was dangerous to the future of the state.

In my former life, I blogged a lot about Schwarzenegger and California. (Nah, I'm not gonna go into the details with self-serving links.) Here's one thing that makes CA a effed up state. Budgets require a super majority to pass rather than simply a 50%+1. Essentially, it's like needing a filibuster proof majority in the US Senate. This allowed the GOP to screw over Gray Davis and make way for the original post-partisan, charismatic actor Arnold Schwarzenegger (who, in fact, was partisan except his 2006 reelection year). I encourage folks to learn a bit more about the state of California politics circa 2002-2003 (that's about the time I got fully immersed in politics) and to examine Schwarzenegger's ascendancy and compare it to Obama's, and to compare the "leadership" of the two as well.

I won't go into details about this, but will provide a brief background and the lessons I learned.

Welcome to Sunday Book Review. Because reading is the basics for all learning. But also because a good book is a great way to, well, get away. In these times, getting away is good for the soul and good for our sanity. Why book reviews? I can't live up to our friend Truth Partisan's ability to lead into these reviews, but I'll give it a try. I'm more likely to read books recommended by folks I respect and trust and have some understanding of their personality. Though most of us here at Corrente don't know each other personally, we probably have a reasonable understanding of each other. So we'll look to each other to get ideas of how to spend our evenings and weekends.

Today I'll give a brief review of the last book I finished, The Human Stain. While extended commentary on the books you've been reading will help us get a better idea of the book, we'll be happy with just a single sentence or even a list. I read a lot of nonfiction and some "highly praised" books, but also enjoy a trashy "mind candy" book as much as the next person. So, put on some slippers, grab that cup o' coffee and share with us what you've been reading. As for the tardiness, well, I'm a west coaster. On to the review...

Commonweal describes Philip Roth as a "master chronicler of the American twentieth century." In the very first pages of The Human Stain you get an idea of Roth's recollection of the 1990s in the U.S.:

[I]f you haven't lived through 1998, you don't know what sanctimony is. They syndicated conservative newspaper columnist William E Buckley wrote, "When Abelard did it, it was possible to prevent its happening again," insinuating that the president's malfeasance--what Buckley elsewhere called Clinton's "incontinent carnatlity"--might best be remedied with nothing so bloodless as impeachment but, rather, by the twelfth-centure punishment meted out to Canon Abelard by the knife-wielding associates of Abelard's ecclesiastical colleague... Unlike Khomeini's fatwa condemning to death Salman Rushdie, Buckley's wistful longing for the corrective retribution of castration carried with it no financial incentive for any propective perpetrator. It was prompted by a spirit no less exacting than the ayotollah's, however, and in behalf of no less exalted ideals.

I was still a teenager during the 1990s, but I remember this mindset quite well, escpecially in the rabid pack mentality dominant in political discourse. This rush to judgment on personal affairs, the preaching of supposed moral and intellectual superiority pushed me decidedly against the Republican party and against conservativism. Oddly, some ten years later, it was this same rabid group behavior during the Democratic Party that pushed me out of the Democratic Party. What Roth captures in The Human Stain does not appear to be limited to one party or the other, one ideology or an other. It seems, rather, that the desire to feel superior, to mock, ridicule and attack our rivals is an inherent human quality.

Since one of my fav Correntians is gone, I figured I'd give a go at reviving the Corrente Sunday Book Reviews. To show my seriousness, I'll do a write up of something I'm reading.

I know you all are reading so be prepared to share your latest reads with us on Sunday. Whether you want to be all smart and pretentious with your book choices or you just want to tell us about the trashy book your reading, it doesn't matter. Because we all know that reading is the basics for all learning.